RAT-EC: Introducing a New Open-Source 3D Volume-Integral Eddy-Current Module

Abstract

We present RAT-EC, an open-source volume-integral eddy-current module for unstructured meshes, driven in the time domain by coils of arbitrary winding geometry. It is the first openly available code of this kind and part of the open-source RAT suite. Because only the conductor is meshed, neither the surrounding air nor an artificial outer boundary has to be modelled, which simplifies model preparation and brings problems with thin gaps and intricate air regions within reach of standard hardware. The formulation combines a semi-analytical evaluation of the singular and near-singular inductance terms, a multi-level fast multipole method that accelerates both the far-field inductance action and the coil field, topology-aware constraints for multiply connected conductors, and a matrix-free, GPU-accelerated time integration. The implementation is verified against closed-form solutions for a conducting sphere and a conducting ring, and is validated on the TEAM-7 benchmark. At 50 Hz, RAT-EC reproduces the measured field as accurately as finite-element solutions. At 200 Hz, it agrees with a converged finite-element model, but both deviate from published measurements, which suggests that this benchmark point should be re-examined. RAT-EC provides an open platform for volume-integral eddy-current simulation and method development.